The present application relates to methods, systems, algorithms and processes for diagnosing vehicle faults and, more particularly, for diagnosing vehicle faults using intelligent agents. Applications thereof include efficiently identifying and diagnosing current and potential future vehicle faults when diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) are absent.
Onboard diagnostic (OBD) systems assist technicians diagnose and service computerized vehicle systems, such as engine and brake systems. OBD systems function to diagnose subsystem component failures and malfunctions, and function to detect subsystem component deterioration. When deterioration of a component reaches a critical level, a DTC can be generated and/or a warning light on the vehicle's dash can be illuminated to inform a driver of the error.
The level of deterioration of components of a vehicle are affected by many factors, including a driver's behavior, weather, driving conditions and mileage/time. This level of deterioration is referred to, generally, as the health of the vehicle. To ensure DTCs are inspected by a technician at timely intervals and to avoid critical failures in vehicle components, drivers are recommended to have their vehicles serviced periodically, after a fixed number of miles or after a fixed time period, for inspection and maintenance.
Typically, OBDs are performed by looking for known problems by an experienced technician. In these cases, known problems have been recorded as DTCs on the vehicle, and thus can be easily identified and repaired.
However, simply following a recommended schedule for current mileage-based and time-based inspections can be problematic. For example, period inspections do not take into consideration various factors that affect the lifetime of the vehicle components such as driver behavior, weather, driving conditions and other influential factors. Accordingly, such inspections may be too late to prevent additional harm to vehicle components, resulting in expensive repair or injury. Similarly, where vehicles are driven under optimal conditions, vehicles may be unnecessarily brought in for maintenance, resulting in unnecessary costs to the owner.
Additionally, current vehicle diagnostics generally rely on DTCs being available. When DTCs are not available, vehicle inspection and diagnosis for vehicle fault determination is lengthy and expensive.